


Heart wants what it wants

by canadino



Series: ABO Verse - Altered Rules [8]
Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:22:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24731524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadino/pseuds/canadino
Summary: When you get older, you try and hold back a little bit more. At least, it's how he justifies it.
Relationships: Nanao Taichi/Rurikawa Yuki/Sumeragi Tenma, Nanao Taichi/Sumeragi Tenma, Takatoo Tasuku/Tsukioka Tsumugi
Series: ABO Verse - Altered Rules [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/556808
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54





	Heart wants what it wants

**Author's Note:**

> Please see my Collection notes for my ABO-verse rules.

Tsukioka Tsumugi did not resent his circumstances. His parents were both of relatively short stature, so he did not expect to be particularly tall after his teenage growth spurts. He wasn’t too bad at his studies, and his demeanor was pleasant so he found himself generally well-liked. Heats were inconvenient, but Alphas rutted, which was basically the same thing, and Betas menstruated, which sounded equally annoying. In fact, the only time Tsumugi really lamented being born an Omega was during Godza tryouts - 

(“You aren’t common gravel,” Reni said, giving a half-hearted compliment that only served to salt the wound further, “but you aren’t an uncut gem I can polish to sparkling. It is no secret that Godza is a premier Alpha theater troupe. So I can only guess that your Omega dimwittedness is the reason you attempted to enter a place that you will never belong.”)

But even after that disappointing setback, he’d picked himself back up. Somehow, despite having much more to learn, he’d become a leader of his own troupe and had reunited and reconciled with an old friend. Mankai Company was full of characters of all backgrounds and dispositions. Even the younger members were teaching him so much; Tsumugi had no choice but to feel content and fulfilled. That he was able to follow the advice he gave his students was why he could so passionately give it: that no matter what cards had been dealt, there was always a way to overcome obstacles that seemed impossible. 

Though lately, it seemed he had stumbled somewhat and was now desperately trying to course correct in the dark. He had made up with Tasuku, whom he had never really considered different from him despite being built and striking - a bonafide Alpha. Izumi and Sakyo had questioned the room assignment, but despite distance and time, he trusted Tasuku and knew one of the reasons Tasuku trained so diligently was to hone his discipline over his genetic instincts. Tasuku was dependable, good-hearted, and - most importantly - his friend, whom he could rely on. It was because Tasuku was his friend, rough patch be damned, that during the first heat he’d had in the dorms, he said, “Let me mark you. I know your suppressants make your head foggy. I’ll mark you so you can think clearly and go about the rest of your heat without worrying. We won’t have to do anything else.”

“You’d do that for me?” Tsumugi had asked, curled up in his bed and feeling groggy from the pill. 

Tasuku shrugged. “Sure. We’re...friends, now. I mean, again. Er, you know what I mean. And friends help each other.” So Tasuku marked him, and he felt himself again. 

Except - well, a heat was a heat. After a few more days of restlessness, Tasuku offered to help him again. Tsumugi’s condition was obvious and it was making the rest of the Troupe worried. They would just do something once, because friends help friends, and never speak of it again. Tasuku averted his eyes politely and Tsumugi covered his face the whole time in embarrassment. Childhood friends or not, it was awkward to see someone with their pants down. Afterwards, they smiled at each other and agreed to pretend nothing had happened. 

Except - it was not the first, last, or only time something happened. Before the heat ended, they slept together the whole way, beyond fumbling handies after lunch. For Tsumugi’s next heat, Tasuku offered to mark him again and he’d accepted. And the next heat, and the next. Repeat ad nauseam. It had been easy to convince himself that friends went out of their way for each other - Itaru drove when the Company needed him, Omi cooked large dinners while juggling school work and rehearsals, Summer Troupe came together when Tenma had long absences from his television career and had to catch up after his work was done. But then Tsumugi woke up one day, off his heat and Tasuku long gone for his morning run, and realized he had definitely caught feelings and all things went to hell. 

Of course, all things went to hell only in the confines of his mind. Tsumugi was too seasoned to wear all his emotions on his sleeve as obviously as Tenma or Taichi. It would serve nobody to declare them, and he and Tasuku had just worked through the complicated spot from the Godza incident. It was straightforward: Tsumugi had heats, and Tasuku was doing a service for him and the rest of the Company by helping Tsumugi handle them. Tasuku never brought it up outside the context of his heats, and it was a private matter no one else had any business knowing. The setup was simple, and he was rocking the boat. So Tsumugi went home on a day he had no students, indulged in animal therapy by petting and lavishing attention on Zabi, and wrote out the extent of his internal conflicts in the notebook he saved for working through complicated character studies. Getting it all on paper left him with a sense of relief, the lifted weight off his shoulders strengthening his resolve that he would, as he should, forget about it. 

When he returned to the dorms, Tasuku was working out in their room with an exercise band. “You’re emitting,” he said, by way of greeting, as Tsumugi walked through the door. 

Tsumugi laughed. “I’m pretty sure everyone else just calls it scenting.” 

“Whatever. You’re releasing.” Tsumugi laughed again and Tasuku put down the band. They found themselves in the shared space in the middle of their room. “It’s so obvious. Normally, you kind of smell like dirt and grass, but before your heat you smell like flowers.” 

“I’m flattered. As a gardener, that’s the highest compliment.”

Tasuku rolled his eyes. “I’m not complimenting you,” he said. They hovered for a moment more, before Tsumugi turned to expose the back of his neck and Tasuku, still for a second as he ran his hand across the space of unmarked skin, bit. 

Letting out an involuntary sigh, Tsumugi shook his head to get the sparks out. When Tasuku did not immediately walk away and resume working out with his band, Tsumugi glanced up to meet his eyes again. Tasuku moved his hand to cup his face and tipped Tsumugi’s chin up for a kiss. They held it for a nice, long moment as Tsumugi let his reason run away from him; while eating poison, he may as well lick the plate. When they stopped, Tasuku had a hand on Tsumugi’s waist and pressed their foreheads together.

“Thank you,” Tsumugi blurted.

“For...what?”

“For...marking me. Helping me manage my heats.” 

Now it was Tasuku’s turn to laugh, a deep rumble in his throat that made Tsumugi swallow. “You’ve never thanked me for it before.” 

“Maybe I should. You don’t have to, every time it happens.” He was talking way too much. Tasuku had pulled away, a frown starting to make its way down his face. “Let me go make us some tea! I’m sure you need water after working out and - and we need to go over next practice’s training menu. Just hold tight, I’ll be right back!” Fumbling the door handle, almost forgetting how to open the thing, Tsumugi beat a hasty retreat. 

The kitchen was mercifully empty. Waiting for the water to boil, Tsumugi berated himself. He was going to get himself in trouble and would be the reason why things would be uncomfortable again. There needed to be a mental list of acceptable and unacceptable things to do during his heats and he would need to follow them attentively. The front door to the dorm opened, and without turning, he heard Tenma call out a greeting to anyone in the foyer. 

“Welcome back,” Tsumugi returned, pouring hot water into two cups. 

“I’m back. Hey, Tsumugi-san--” The words died in Tenma’s throat. He was standing in the doorway of the kitchen looking like he’d just seen a ghost. Tsumugi stared back, confused, before realizing he had not left his room wearing a choker. As his arrangement with Tasuku was a secret, he kept his neck covered during all of his heats, which was not unusual for an Omega. In his haste, he had left the back of his neck completely open. “That...you’re marked!”

“Tenma, not so loud, please!” There was nothing wrong with being marked on a heat; in fact, it was generally preferable to suppressants, which had not been perfected to be totally without side effects. But having not mentioned it the whole time he had been at the dorms, it had become a habit. He had even heard some of the younger boys saying that he was such an impressive Omega to not act any different during a heat than when he wasn’t on one. Tenma slapped his hands over his mouth, as if it could muffle words in the air. 

“Sorry,” Tenma mumbled, before removing his hands again. “It’s just...I’ve never seen you marked before...I didn’t know you had a partner.” 

“Well...it’s complicated.” As much as the younger boys talked freely about their social lives, it felt foreign to discuss such things as one of older members. Sakyo had set such a stark example of virtue that it seemed to go without saying that the adults’ personal lives were off limits. 

Tenma glanced around before shuffling a little closer. “Uh...maybe I’m being too nosy but...how - how does it feel?”

“It’s...a little sore? Skin is being broken after all.” Tsumugi was relieved Tenma was focusing on that aspect, instead of asking more questions about who was the biter and when and where. This was curiosity he could handle. 

“Er...I mean, being marked. How...does that feel?” Tenma was squirming. It was a little adorable. 

“I think it’s different for every Omega but it’s pretty painless. Well, you’re being bit, so there’s a bit of a pinch. But it’s like…” He made a fist tightly and then released. “...like that. It’s hard to really explain.”

Tenma nodded knowingly, though his eyes betrayed still a bit of skepticism. “I see.” 

“I’m surprised you’re so interested. Are you going to be in a program about it?”

Tenma’s face, which had been pink with excitement, turned red. In the company of his Troupe, he might have stuttered a flimsy response, but Tsumugi was a fellow Troupe leader and someone he had spent time with extensively around plant care; in other words, Tsumugi was a respected adult. “I’m,” he whispered, “an Omega too.” 

Mankai did not press on the specifics of any of its members’ situations, so disclosing broadly had never happened. Izumi knew, ostensibly, as the acting guardian of the underaged members and director. It was assumed that roommates either shared the same disposition or one was a Beta. Some were widely known: Omi was a pretty standard Alpha, Juza smelled like sugar during his heats, and Makoto, while observant and sensitive to everyone as an older brother to many siblings, did not react to pheromones. Tsumugi did not care to speculate, but he had written Tenma off as an Alpha. It had been irresponsible to assume. “Oh. I didn’t know.” 

“Yeah...I haven’t really told anyone, really...my dad has me on really expensive suppressants so no one finds out, and I’m on birth control just in case.” Omegas, with regular heats, were not often in entertainment; some were on sitcoms or talk shows, but rarely as high profile as Tenma. He couldn’t afford to wear a choker and advertise it to all who could see. “Yuki knows...it was hard to keep it from him...but otherwise…”

“Your secret is safe with me,” Tsumugi said, with an assuring smile. 

“What! Tsumugi-san, marked? Are you sure you didn’t see it wrong?”

Tenma frowned. He had hesitated about telling Taichi, but it was hard to keep a juicy secret to himself. Yuki, for all his sneering and attitude, did not deserve such a valuable piece of information; but while Taichi could promise not to tell and stick to it, he was also very excitable and prone to sharing if his guard was down. He had purposefully asked that they walk to school together to keep this bit of news between as few ears as possible, but Taichi, predictably, began squawking almost immediately. “Yes. Now hush before the entire neighborhood hears.” 

Taichi visibly settled. But his eyes were glittering. “Wow! I had no idea Tsumugi had a girlfriend! He never talks about her or...or about any kind of significant other, now that I think about it. I wonder who it is!”

“It wouldn’t matter if he said who it was. We probably wouldn’t know them anyway.”

Taichi rubbed his chin. “Hmm...well, not saying that it’s impossible, because Tsumugi-san is a good man but...I really can’t see him marked and stuff. I thought he got through his heats with pure willpower alone. Are you sure you saw a mark?”

“Yes!” Tenma bristled indignantly. “It was clearly a round bite mark right on the back of his neck.” He pulled down his own collar for emphasis. “Right here. It was red, and it didn’t look like a scratch or a cut or anything like that!” Taichi leaned forward, staring at his neck as if he could somehow see Tsumugi’s neck by proxy. His breath gave Tenma goosebumps. 

“Hmm,” Taichi hummed. “Huh! You smell good, Ten-chan. As expected of a celebrity! Your cologne is really nice.” 

Tenma flushed. “We’re talking about Tsumugi-san right now.” 

“Can’t I make an observation?” Taichi was leaning closer now, really smelling him. “Where was the mark? Here?” Tenma opened his mouth to remind him to keep his eyes open the next time he was pointing something out, but Taichi bit him suddenly instead, teasingly and not hard enough to break skin. He felt his stomach flip. Taichi laughed. “Wow! I had no idea necks were so soft. I could have really marked you there!”

“Idiot. I would have killed you. People would definitely be talking if I came to school like that.” 

“Aw, I’d let you bite me back so we’d be even.” Tenma allowed himself to sneak a peek at Taichi’s neck. “But, like...you think girls would dig Alpha guys with bite marks? Doesn’t that kind of make them look totally subversive and not threatening at all?”

“It makes them look like they have a totally possessive girlfriend who wants to let everyone know he’s off limits.”

“Ooh, you’re probably right…” Tenma rubbed the spot Taichi had sunk his teeth into. The marks would disappear soon, too shallow to have bruised. But the spot felt hot, almost pulsing. Taichi really was an Alpha, even if he was tiny compared to the hulking ones in the Company. He was a rare Alpha, born after generations of mostly Betas, so he didn’t really carry himself differently, flaunting his status when he thought he’d get attention for it and sulking when he didn’t. When he came to Tenma’s homeroom for lunch, he greeted everyone happily, Alpha or not. The breeze from the window in the music room felt unusually cooler than normal. “If you’re not feeling well, you should go to the nurse,” Taichi said. Juza was staring at him with concern, cheeks half-full with sweet tamagoyaki. 

“I don’t have anything after school so I’ll just go home today,” Tenma said. He felt his pulse quicken. He’d gone to bed a little later than normal last night, but he’d never felt so under the weather like that before. After the last bell, he hurried home before Taichi or Juza could find him, throwing his bag into his side of the room before curling up in his bed. His sheets were cool against his face. 

Yuki came home a little while later. Tenma mumbled a response when Yuki greeted him, and it took Yuki after changing out of his uniform, eating a snack in the kitchen with Muku, and beginning his homework in order to free up his evening for sewing before noticing something was wrong. “Hey...are you okay?” Tenma hated the concern in Yuki’s voice, free of all the poison that might have made the boy slip in a verbal jab. It meant he was in worse shape than he thought. “You haven’t...er, moved in a long time.” 

“No,” Tenma groaned. He heard Yuki climb the ladder to his bed. “I think I have a fever.” 

Yuki’s palm was cool against his forehead. “You don’t feel like you have a fever.” 

“I feel super hot, like I’m burning up inside.” Yuki’s hand pressed harder against his face, as if pressure was the reason why he couldn’t feel anything strange. “Can you get me some cold medicine?”

Yuki gingerly withdrew his hand. “You look like shit,” he said honestly. “But I really don’t think you’re running a fever.” His frown was deepening. “You don’t think...I mean, it’s not impossible but could it be a heat…?”

“I’ve had heats before and they don’t feel like this.” Yuki pressed his lips together. His secondary characteristic hadn’t yet manifested so he had no reference. “Never mind. I’ll try and sleep it off. Tell Director I won’t have dinner with everyone.” 

What a moron, Yuki thought. It didn’t take a genius to see there was something wrong with him. He would go to Izumi and ask for help; he hadn’t taken care of enough sick people to know exactly what to do. But as he made his way to her room, he hesitated; suppose it really did have something to do with being an Omega, then Izumi would not be the most effective adult to call as a Beta. Sakyo was definitely out, in that case. Azuma would be the most knowledgeable, but Tenma felt uncomfortable around him and it would be counterproductive to making the fraud actor feel better. Tsumugi was home, though; he’d seen Winter Troupe’s leader fussing in the courtyard on his way to his room earlier. 

There was a tentative knock at the door and Tenma shivered. Feeling hot without being able to sweat it off was awful. He made a feeble sound; Yuki would have barged right in, so the boy must have run to get help. There was no need. Some rest and maybe some fever reducers and he would be right as rain. “Oh man,” Taichi whispered. Tenma felt a vibration through his spine. “I thought something was wrong.” 

“I’m fine,” Tenma said. “Go. Leave me alone.” Except somehow his words came out as unintelligible sound, and Taichi needed clear directions to follow. He heard the creaky sound of Taichi ascending the ladder and a moment later he felt a hand on his face. Yuki’s touch had felt natural, like his mother or an assistant testing his makeup. Taichi felt like throwing a cold towel on after hours in the sun, bringing him down from something too heated to hold to something that could be cradled in his hands. “Go,” he gurgled, feeling his stomach flip. 

“You should have told me,” Taichi said. His face was pink. “I wouldn’t have...even teasing, I wouldn’t have bit you if I knew.” Taichi was his friend, someone who sought him out without expecting a kickback from his connections and who praised him so openly and included him in mundane things like shopping for school supplies and getting snacks during study break. He was so close Tenma could kiss him, and he wanted to do it so strongly it made his head spin. Taichi ought to hold him, he thought, wrap his arms around him and squeeze him until the unfamiliar sensations went away. He was taller, a little more built from Tasuku’s recommended training menus, but he wanted to fold himself small so Taichi could take him and slip him into his pocket to keep. “Do...do you feel bad? Are you...in heat?”

“Yes,” Tenma groaned. 

“I knew it!” Taichi laughed. He always liked being right. “I could smell it from the hallway. You know when you come back inside in the summer and you kind of smell like the wind?”

“I smell like the wind?”

“Er, something like that.” 

Tenma barely heard the sound of the door over Taichi’s breath in his ear. “Taichi-kun, please step away from Tenma,” Tsumugi said, his voice low. 

“Oh...oh! Oh.” Taichi sprang away and Tenma could have protested, if he had the energy. “Oh, you’re right. Sorry, I completely forgot.” He hurried down the ladder, making way for Tsumugi and stepping into the space next to Yuki, who was lingering at the door and staring up at Tenma’s bed. Tsumugi was up next to Tenma with quickness, pushing up his sleeve and pressing the fast-acting suppressant dose into his veins. After a few breaths, the heat began to subside, leaving a numbing feeling in his brain. 

“Feel better?” Tsumugi asked, running his fingers soothingly through his hair. Tenma swallowed and nodded. “Did you forget your suppressants?”

“No.” For some reason, he couldn’t speak louder than a whisper. “I take it every morning...a low dose daily. My heats usually aren’t anything more than feeling...itchy for a few days.” 

“Well, did something happen? You’re still a teenager, and it takes a few years for the body to sort of grow into it.” 

When Tenma said nothing, Taichi clapped his hands together. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know! I accidentally...I accidentally bit him this morning! For fun! I didn’t know.” Tenma tried to sit up. “But...I didn’t see any marks.” Taichi was being so suspicious, not meeting Tsumugi’s eyes. But Tsumugi was wearing a choker, thick enough that any sort of mark was carefully hidden. “I thought you had to draw blood for it to count.” 

Tsumugi pushed up the hair on the back of his neck. When he ran his fingers over a certain spot, Tenma felt himself go weak. “It’s not a full mark,” Tsumugi said, finally. “In fact, it’s almost unnoticeable. But you did break skin; there’s a small scab.” Taichi moaned remorsefully. “Even if it’s just play, an Omega’s neck is sensitive. Just like your funny bone, it doesn’t take much to hit it wrong.” 

“What kind of stupid games are you playing?” Yuki huffed. “Even if you didn’t know the fraud was an Omega, who goes around biting people? You really are a dog.” 

“Just remember for next time,” Tsumugi sighed, as Taichi continued wailing. “It’s your first time getting marked, so it’ll feel strange at first, but give it some time and you’ll feel like normal soon. Let’s get you comfortable and rested; I’ll let Omi know to make you some ginger and carrot soup, to be easy on your stomach.”

“No carrot,” Tenma said. 

“See, you’re feeling better if you can say that!” Tsumugi shifted Tenma so he was lying on his back. “Let’s get you out of this uniform and into your sleeping clothes. Yuki, please go grab a cooling pad and some water. Taichi-kun, it’s best if you give Tenma some space--”

“No,” Tenma blurted. It was so sudden he cut Tsumugi off completely. Out of his peripheral vision, he could see Taichi and Yuki tense at the door. He had to explain, he wanted Taichi to be nearby, but he didn’t have the words. It felt like such a silly request. But Tsumugi nodded after a moment. 

“I suppose it can’t be helped…Taichi, can you stay with Tenma?”

“Um...yes!” 

“Get something from your room. Some things that are yours; a pillow, a sweater. Something you keep pretty close. Yuki, can you get the other things?” 

“O-of course.” 

“Sorry,” Tenma mumbled, as Tsumugi undressed him and dressed him back up in a shirt and a pair of sweats at the foot of his bed. He was already sixteen and he was being cared for like a toddler with his first cold. “To make you...and everyone fuss on me like this.” 

“Tenma.” Tsumugi’s smile was so reassuring. It reminded Tenma of all the times he looked upon the oldest leader and thought how formidable Tsumugi was and how much more growing up he still needed to do. “Everyone’s got to go through this for the first time. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Patting Tenma’s head, Tsumugi made his way to the end of the bed. “Let me tell Izumi about this; she’s your legal guardian here, after all. She can contact your parents if there’s anything they want us to know or have in the meantime. I’ll be right back.” Tsumugi closed the door behind him and the room fell back into a comfortable, heavy silence. It felt like it had been forever since Tenma could just close his eyes and let himself be boneless. 

Yuki’s voice came through on the other side of the door, muffled but it was still enough that Tenma could hear. “Are you going to stay the night in our room?”

“I guess? If I have to, I don’t know how it works.”

“W-well, you’re not allowed to sleep in my bed! You’re forbidden; I don’t want my sheets to smell like an idiot dog.” 

“Of course not! You know I won’t touch your stuff, Yuki-chan!”

“And you’re not allowed to sleep in Tenma’s bed either. You’ll catch his stupid.” 

“Eh…” He could almost see Taichi scratch the back of his head, in the obvious way he did when he was trying to come up with a totally flimsy excuse. “I...don’t know about that.” 

Yuki said nothing for a long moment. “Here, have the stuff for that fraud. I’ll...go sleep in Azu-nee’s room. I wouldn’t be able to rest in a room with two idiots.” Yuki’s steps were heavy going away from their room. Taichi came in again, clumsily up the ladder with his arms full of things: two pillows, a sweater, a bottle of water, and a box of cooling patches. Tenma found himself reaching for and clutching the sweater as Taichi settled the pillows down and tore a cooling patch to stick crookedly on Tenma’s forehead. 

“That wasn’t the right thing to say,” Tenma said. 

“What should I have said?” Taichi was stupid and dense, but somehow Tenma thought he knew exactly what he was talking about. It was a fruitless topic to pursue. “Like this, it’s like we’re having a slumber party! I’ve been telling Ban-chan that an inter-troupe sleepover would be such a fun idea but he keeps shutting me down!” 

Tsumugi returned to 201 to find the two lying and facing each other, speaking in hushed tones between Taichi’s laughter. It was comfortingly nostalgic; he remembered sleepovers at Tasuku’s house, before middle school, when Tasuku listened attentively when he talked endlessly about the different shaped leaves on the plants at his grandma’s house. Tasuku had given him a wide berth once he began experiencing heats in high school, and even now, though they shared a bed occasionally, it was mostly quietly as Tasuku’s hand draped over his waist and he listened to his heartbeat and counted his breaths. He had Taichi finish the mark, gripping Tenma’s hand back tightly as Taichi sank his teeth into his neck. Tenma could take a few days off school and cover the mark with makeup later, but a half-hearted mark was as good as a half broken bone - it needed a clean break to fully recover. Izumi would check on him later after calling his parents and his manager. Sighing, Tenma relaxed completely into his bed, offering no resistance as Taichi scrambled to hold his hand. 

“You’re so diligent and attentive,” Tsumugi said, beaming despite himself. It did his heart good to see the kids treat each other well. “To do all this for a friend.” 

“Duh! Ten-chan’s my friend, but also he’s important to me so of course I’d do it.” Tenma muttered something under his breath and Taichi mumbled something back, making the both of them giggle. Feeling a bit awkward, Tsumugi took his leave, making them promise to call him or another adult if Tenma’s condition worsened. 

He wasn’t aware he had been holding his breath until he returned to his room, and suddenly it felt like a great stress had left his body. Caring for children was no easy task. Tasuku looked over from where he was working on his laptop. “Sumeragi doing okay now?”

“Yes...I was worried for a moment there when Taichi appeared, but they seem to be helping each other through it.” 

Tasuku spun a pen around his fingers. “Nanao, huh,” he said, trailing off in thought. “Listen, I’ve been meaning to ask you. About what you said a few days ago.” Tsumugi smiled at him blankly. “About marking you during your heats. You don’t want me marking you anymore?”

Tsumugi turned away. “You’re a dutiful person. I don’t want you to feel obligated to be my partner for my heats just because you did it a few times. You won’t say anything if it’s bothersome, so I wanted to let you know...you don’t have to.” 

“You have someone else you want to spend your heat with?”

“Well, what about you? You can’t be thinking you’ll be with me for my heats indefinitely. When you get a partner, they won’t want you caring for me every cycle.” Steadfast, Tsumugi turned to look at him; Tasuku’s gaze was piercing, and it was like sizing up a wolf about to pounce. “It’s also for me. I’m growing as an actor, and I can’t be dependent on you helping me all the time. I can handle it on my own too.” 

Tasuku was still. “So you don’t want me marking you.” 

“I’m saying I can handle my heats on my own. And I should; I’m an adult Omega.” He wasn’t sure he was at the point where he felt confident his bluff wouldn’t be called with Tasuku looking at him straight on. He liked being marked by Tasuku, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t just because Tasuku was an Alpha who conveniently happened to be around. Being with Tasuku was comfortable outside his heats, familiar without feeling like he had to be on his best behavior. On his heats, a touch could make him feel like being wrapped in something warm and rich, a kiss like a puzzle piece slotting into place. He really was hopelessly besotted. “So I’m relieving you of your duties! So you don’t need to worry about me from now on.” 

Tasuku gave him a skeptical one-over. “I really doubt I’ll ever feel okay not worrying about you.” Even now, Tasuku wasn’t convinced Tsumugi was telling him the whole truth, but between them, Tsumugi was the one better with words. If there was something Tsumugi didn’t want to tell him but it wasn’t significant enough to mention, Tasuku trusted him. He did feel slighted, but he had made Tsumugi worry too much, and he wasn’t trying to be the type of Alpha who protested until he got his way. In any case, Tsumugi was about to finish his heat, and now he was starting to tell him about some latest teenage trend that he had learned about from his students. Tasuku swallowed his curiosity. 

The next morning, Yuki stared at the hickey on Taichi’s neck. It didn’t seem that the boy had noticed it yet, gushing on and on about an exam he had barely studied for. It was dark red, hidden partially by his collar. When he had snuck into their room to gather his things for the day, when Taichi was in the bathroom, Tenma was sleeping loudly and the space smelled like pheromones. It had made his nose itch like crazy. He was already a bit grumpy from a night of tossing and turning; Azuma had wrapped him in comfortable sheets and patted his head and burned soothing floral candles, but it had been hard to sleep when his stomach was tying itself in knots. When Taichi saw him in the kitchen that morning, he was all smiles as usual. Yuki felt stupid for being upset. 

“You should fix that,” Yuki said, when Taichi finished his monologue. He pointed to Taichi’s neck and Taichi quickly pulled up his collar after checking against the reflection of his phone. 

“Thanks...that was embarrassing.” They would reach the point in the walk where they would split up to go to their respective schools; just as well, as Yuki couldn’t stand it. High schoolers were so shameless. He was glad Muku had to go in early for club; he didn’t know if he could handle Muku squirming and talking about romance that early. “Say, Yuki-chan; when should we work on the next show’s costumes? Tenma should be feeling better today, so he’ll be able to give us some space.” At the fork, Taichi took a step to the left and Yuki stopped to the right. Taichi looked so expectant, like he didn’t realize things were different now. 

“You still want to work on costumes now that you’ve got that hack?”

Taichi blinked. “Huh? You’ve still got a lot of sewing to do, right?”

“I’ve got a ton of work left. But how big-hearted of you to want to help me now that you’re a pair. Are you sure you don’t want to spend your free time with Tenma?” He wanted to run away, but he was nowhere as fast or had as much stamina as Muku, and him fleeing wouldn’t be very brave of him. Taichi frowned, looking pensive for a second before reaching out and grabbing Yuki’s hands. “Hey! Don’t manhandle me--”

“Yuki-chan…! I’m not sure what you’re thinking about me and Ten-chan...but it doesn’t mean that I’m out of the Seamstress Boys club! I want to help you, I want you to think I’m needed…” Yuki shook his hands but Taichi did not let go. “Yuki-chan, if...if you turn out to be an Omega, I’ll be your Alpha too!”

They were going to be late. “My Alpha?” Yuki said, hearing his voice pitch up in tone despite himself. “Too?” 

“If-if you want me to, of course!”

Yuki pulled harder and freed himself from Taichi’s grasp. He turned away; his face felt hot. “Stop thinking about stupid things like that,” Yuki ordered, his words coming out in a flurry. “As if I’d be happy to be bitten by a dog! And if...when I’m an Alpha, it won’t matter.” Taichi looked no less encouraged, his eyes still sparkling with his declaration. “You’re going to be late. Don’t you have a test to study for or something!” 

“Oh!” A bit of panic settled into Taichi’s face. “Oh, crap, you’re right. Okay, I’ll be going now! I’ll see you later!” He paused. “And I was being serious too. If you’re an Omega, I’ll, er, happily mark you. Okay, bye!” He turned on his heel and ran off. 

Yuki’s face was just starting to cool down when he reached the middle school building. Muku was standing outside the classroom, clearly waiting for him. “Yuki,” he greeted, cheerful like a summer breeze. “Good morning!”

“Good morning. How was club?”

“Good…” Muku rarely waited specifically for him to arrive when they didn’t walk to school together. Had something urgent happened at the dorms since he’d left? “They’re doing testing for our secondary characteristics today,” Muku said, fidgeting. “You know, the mandatory school-issued ones, for the people who haven’t manifested yet. Since we both have fourth period study hall together...do you want to go with me?”

“Sure.” He had completely forgotten. The public schools usually tested once during middle school third year, but St. Flora tested once each quarter in the last year of middle school to let each student factor their needs into their high school plans. Testing was only really effective when characteristics manifested; late bloomers were usually missed. Muku was understandably anxious, but Yuki figured they’d both come back with inconclusive results and wait for the spring quarter test. “Shall we go put our names down?”

“I’m not on the schedule today?”

His supervisor at the green grocer scratched his head. “Well...I should have notified you. But Tanaka needed to change around his shifts and I was able to get Fujiwara to take on a couple additional times since, you know, he’s saving up to buy his little brother a present for graduating high school. Your next shift is tomorrow morning; does that still work?”

Tasuku nodded his head. It was truly no big deal. The only difference, had he known earlier, was that he would have gone on a run in the morning instead than in the evening. He checked his watch as he made his way back to the dorms; he had enough time for a leisurely fifteen mile jog before his shift at the bookstore in the afternoon. The dorms were still quiet when he returned, just as he had left it; it was early for any of the students and Sakyo tended to do his work in his own room before others woke. He heard the sounds of the regular salarymen in the bathroom as he crossed the courtyard to his room. 

It was one of Tsumugi’s rare free days, one he would most likely spend in the garden for most of the time. Tasuku felt a little bad, approaching the door. Tsumugi tended not to sleep very well during his heats, and now that it was over, he would appreciate the late morning. He was also quite a light sleeper, making Tasuku hone his stealth in the mornings. He resolved to get dressed quickly for a run; once he finished and had a cool shower, Tsumugi would surely be ready to face the day. 

Turning the key and the door handle with the most careful twists of the wrist, Tasuku entered soundlessly. As he held the handle on the door as it closed behind him, equally as quiet, he noticed the lump on Tsumugi’s bed was gone. In addition, there was a new human-sized lump on his bed. Crossing over to his bed, his socks muffling his steps, he peered over and saw Tsumugi swaddled in his comforter, surrounded by his sleeping clothes and jacket he usually put on the corner of his bed. His head was nestled between the pillow he brought from his own bed and Tasuku’s pillow; in his hands, he held the script Tasuku had been reading the night before and making notes in. Tsumugi’s eyes were closed, and from his throat came a low, satisfied hum; if Tasuku drew a comparison, he would say Tsumugi was positively purring. 

“Hmm,” Tasuku said. 

Tsumugi’s eyes flew open. He was too composed - and certainly obviously caught red handed - to flounder around in surprise. But his cheeks turned red as he met Tasuku’s eyes. “Ah...er, you’re home extremely early.” 

“Schedule changed without me knowing. Mind telling me what you’re doing right now?”

“Uh. Resting.” 

“I see. That’s different from nesting, right? Because that’s what it looks like you’re doing right now. Even though you have your own bed.”

“Yes, I see how you might come to the conclusion that I was nesting. However, that’s not what I was doing.” Tasuku’s blanket and sheets were drawn so close that they practically cocooned Tsumugi; there was no easy escape from him. “You see...I was-I was feeling cold and since you’re an active guy, I thought I might conserve your body heat since you obviously weren’t using it--” Tasuku had begun climbing the ladder to his bed to listen to him. “--and maybe I could have just brought your things over to my bed but...your mattress is a little softer than mine, and it was comfortable so...you understand…” He was squirming, bright pink and looking everywhere but Tasuku’s face. 

“Huh. Now I don’t know what to think, finding you nesting in my bed but telling me you don’t want to be mates during your heats.” 

“I...I’m telling you I’m not nesting--”

“I want to be your mate. For your next heat, and all your heats after that. And not out of obligation, either.” Tsumugi’s heat was over, but his pheromones were still mixing with Tasuku’s, and in close quarters, they mingled to smell like something homey and nostalgic. “I get it if you don’t want that, and you have other Alphas you might be looking at. But that’s just what I feel.” 

“I want to be your mate too,” Tsumugi blurted. Tasuku kissed him, now fully having gotten into and settled down in Tsumugi’s nest. The script crinkled between them. When he pulled away, Tsumugi covered his face with his hands. “Is it okay to like you, Ta-chan? It’s not...bad?”

“Is that what’s been worrying you this whole time?”

“Well...a little.” 

Tasuku sighed. “You’ve always been one to overthink.” His bed was nice and warm, even on a morning that wasn’t particularly cold. He felt a gaze on the side of his face and Tasuku turned to see Tsumugi peeking at him hopefully through his fingers. Ah, right - Tsumugi needed a clear response. “Yes, it’s okay to like me.” 

“Mmm. Okay.”

“I like you,” Tasuku said, when Tsumugi didn’t follow up with the question. He didn’t remember the last time Tsumugi looked so pleased; Tsumugi, who had already become one with his nest, seemed to sink further into bonelessness, the hum coming back in his throat. “Okay. I’m going to go on a run now since I don’t have work right now.”

Tsumugi frowned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “How romantic of you, Ta-chan.”

“If you get up in time after I finish, we could hit the showers together.” Tsumugi’s eyes grew so wide and Tasuku laughed when he hopped off his bed and quickly changed. He hid a smile on his way out of the living room, barely letting Izumi get a glimpse of his face before he hit the pavement. Being an Alpha was never really something he let himself lean on; his parents were Alphas and so was his brother. He held back on using his Alpha pheromones and continuously strove for self improvement to rightfully earn his accomplishments. He’d always admired Tsumugi’s understated but impactful presence on the stage and he was happy to be learning aside it again. Surpassing the Godza issue had given him hope that they were meant to go the distance, but if being an Alpha gave them another reason to be together - perks couldn’t hurt. Biting back another smile, Tasuku began to quicken his pace.

**Author's Note:**

> This was totally self indulgent as you can clearly see by how thinly connected these two ship dynamics are. No rules quarantine. Planning a follow-up when Yuki manifests. 
> 
> Thanks for reading. Stay learning, stay safe, and stay healthy out there.


End file.
